Celtic have made excellent use of the loan market in the last couple of years, particularly when working hand-in-hand with Manchester City.

Jason Denayer won the Scottish Premiership’s Young Player of the Year award for a stellar 2015/16 season at Parkhead while Patrick Roberts, another City loanee, played a major role as Celtic completed a domestic treble last season.

But with City’s local rivals sending one of their most exciting prospects up to Scotland for the next few month, have Celtic missed a trick by not making a move?

According to the Scottish Sun, Hearts have completed the signing of Demetri Mitchell on a loan deal until the end of the season after manager Craig Levein made strengthening the left-back position a priority this month.

21-year-old Mitchell, who made his United first-team debut against Crystal Palace on the final day of last season, has been converted from a winger to a rampaging full-back will offer Hearts pace and excellent delivery from out wide. In truth, the deal appears to suit all parties down to the ground.

But after the success of Denayer and Roberts, should Celtic have looked to United to reinforce an area of their squad which looks a little light on paper?

Kieran Tierney is one of the first names on Celtic’s team sheet but there is a lack of other options for the left of defence, Emiliano Izaguirre’s summer exit leaving youngster Calvin Miller as the only natural alternative.

So perhaps Mitchell would have been an intelligent addition until the summer, when Celtic can either focus on devoting time to scouting a replacement for Izaguirre while giving Miller a full pre-season to prove he’s ready for the first-team.

Danny Owen

Daniel is a Journalist graduate from Leeds Trinity University and is generally obsessed with everything football related. Daniel watches everything from Augsburg in the Bundesliga to Vitesse in the Eredivisie with as much La Liga as possible thrown in for good measure.